Neu Pick:Party Hardly examine changing perspectives on ‘Mindchanger’

We’ve got the first spin of the Leeds band’s new pop-fuelled, fuzzy juggernaut as today’s Neu Pick.

Posted on 13th September 2017

Every weekday, DIY’s new music know-it-all Neu brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. Today’s Neu Pick comes from Party Hardly.

With a name like Party Hardly, you might expect this Leeds bunch to be peddling some downbeat, introspective tunes, right? Pfft, hardly. Tom Barr, Lachlan Banner, Matt Pownall and Stan Braddock are actually purveyors of jangly indie with surf vibes that’s more likely to have you reaching for a tinny, grabbing your mates and kickstarting a beach party than scratching your chin contemplatively. But that’s only a Good Thing.

Having already brought their party to gigs around the North as guests for the likes of INHEAVEN, The Magic Gang and Trudy & The Romance (all excellent company to be in), not to mention a debut EP recorded with MJ from Hookworms, they’re unleashing their latest pop-fuelled juggernaut on to the world. ‘Mindchanger’ kicks off in pretty mellow fashion, sure, but it soon explodes into life with scuzzy riffs, driving drums and fuzzed-out vocals. There’s even a little tripped-out passage where things get seriously warped. It’s mind-bending stuff.

Speaking of the single, the band said: “Mindchanger is an ode to the experiences felt by the parents of the youth of yesterday. Played out through the perspective of a parent struggling with the difficult nature of an anxty teen, the song takes the listener through a journey of their own personal past, with a new meaning easily discovered upon each listen. To put it simply, Matt now rarely misses a Sunday roast!”

Listen to ‘Mindchanger’ and see Party Hardly’s upcoming tour dates below.